Although Nicaragua’s forests suffer from poorly regulated commercial exploitation and the increasing human footprint of the country’s burgeoning population, they are still the largest in Central America. Covering more than one-third of the country, they vary considerably in terms of elevation and rainfall. Nicaragua’s forests contain valuable cedar, mahogany, and pine timber as well as quebracho (axbreaker), guaiacum (a type of ironwood), guapinol (which yields resin), and medlar (which produces a crab-apple-like fruit).

Although rapidly being depleted, Nicaragua’s fauna includes mammals such as pumas, jaguars, ocelots, margays, various monkeys, deer, and peccaries; birds range from eagles to egrets to macaws to pelicans; reptiles include crocodiles, snakes, turtles, and lizards; and a variety of toads, frogs, fishes, mollusks, and insects are also found. Fauna, like the flora, varies considerably from one ecosystem to another.

People

Ethnic groups

The majority of Nicaraguans (between three-fifths and seven-tenths of the total population) are mestizos—persons of mixed European and Indian ancestry. Whites of European descent constitute less than one-fifth of the total population, while people of African descent, Indians, and other groups each constitute less than one-tenth of the total population.

The Indian groups are split into two regions: the west coast has a small number of Monimbó and Subtiava groups, as well as the Matagalpa (whose language is extinct), who live in the west-central city of the same name, while the Miskito, Sumo, and Rama reside on the east coast. Also living in the eastern region are the Garifuna (formerly called Black Caribs), who are descendants of the Carib people and Africans exiled from British colonies in the eastern Caribbean (Lesser Antilles) in the 18th century, and Creoles, English-speaking blacks mainly from Jamaica. Spanish-speaking mestizos constitute the largest single group on the east coast, however.

Languages

The vast majority of Nicaraguans speak Spanish. It is the sole official language in all but the east coast regions where, under the 1987 constitution and the Atlantic Coast Autonomy Law enacted the same year, Miskito, Sumo, Rama, and Creole English have equal status with Spanish. On the west coast, Indian languages have disappeared, even though their influence remains in place-names and many nouns in Nicaraguan Spanish.

Religion

There is no official religion in Nicaragua, but about three-fifths of Nicaraguans adhere to Roman Catholicism. Since the 1980s Evangelical Protestantism has grown considerably, particularly among the poor, and it is the religion of about one-fifth of the population. There are small Moravian and Anglicancommunities on the Caribbean coast. A very small Jewish community exists in larger cities.

The western volcanic mountains and surrounding lowlands and lakes contain the majority of the country’s population, most of its cities, and the bulk of its industry. The valleys of the western central mountains contain a substantial population. In the second half of the 20th century, many former inhabitants of the western region migrated to the large but sparsely populated eastern region to farm, raise cattle, or exploit timber resources. The area remains an agricultural centre, though some light industry has emerged.

Slightly more than half of Nicaragua’s population is urban. By far the largest city is Managua, on the southeastern shore of Lake Managua. Other important urban centres include León, Granada, Masaya, and Chinandega, all in the west. Matalgalpa, Estelí, Juigalpa, and Jinotega are among the largest cities of the central mountains. Bluefields and Puerto Cabezas (Bilwi) are the largest towns on the Caribbean coast.

Demographic trends

Despite the loss of nearly 30,000 people who were killed in the country’s civil war, and the hundreds of thousands who took refuge abroad, Nicaragua’s population increased from 2.5 million to nearly 4 million during Sandinista rule (1979–90). Declining infant mortality and a wartime “baby boom” are possible explanations. The war also spurred internal migration and a rapid expansion of cities. These factors, along with high fertility rates, have left the country with a young population. At the beginning of the 21st century, nearly two-fifths of the population was under age 15. Moreover, a restrictive abortion policy adopted in the mid-2000s, which outlawed the procedure even in cases of rape or a life-threatening pregnancy, was expected to further increase the population.

Economy

Nicaragua is one of Latin America’s poorest countries and suffers from high unemployment rates and a large external debt. Remittances from Nicaraguans living abroad and foreign assistance are the country’s main sources of foreign income, though income from tourism has increased since the 1990s. The majority of Nicaraguans live in poverty.

During the 1980s the cost inflicted by the revolution that overthrew the Somoza dictatorship and by the defense against counterrevolution worsened the country’s plight. The Sandinista policy of developing a mixed economy (about 60 percent private and 40 percent public) resulted in growth from 1980 through 1983; however, public spending on many state enterprises combined with continued price controls and subsidies led to economic problems. A trade embargo declared on Nicaragua by the United States in 1985, along with economic mismanagement by the Sandinista government, brought about economic decline, service shortages, war-driven inflation, and a growing foreign debt that lasted throughout the decade. In the late 1980s the Sandinistas implemented an austerity program featuring some privatization and sharp reductions in public employment.

The post-Sandinista government sought to remove most state control of the economy and accentuated austerity policies introduced by the Sandinistas. Privatization was accelerated, and government spending aimed at the country’s poor majority was curtailed. By the end of the century, with renewed U.S. assistance and aid from international lending agencies, inflation had been brought under control and minor growth was being achieved. However, the government’s implementation of austerity and structural-adjustment programs reduced or eliminated most government welfare and led to further impoverishment of the country’s poorest citizens.

Located in the middle of Central America, Nicaragua is the largest in area but one of the most sparsely populated countries of the region. Its name is derived from Nicarao, chief of the American Indian tribe that lived around present-day Lake Nicaragua during the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The capital and largest city is Managua. Area 50,337 square miles (130,373 square kilometers). Population (2015 est.) 6,257,000.